The man who allegedly killed three people in the 2015 Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs died while in federal custody, according to inmate records.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons database shows that Robert Dear Jr., 67, died Saturday in at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP) in Springfield, Mo.

Officials within the Bureau of Prisons confirmed his death, but they declined to comment on his cause of death, which will be determined by the medical examiner in Greene County, Mo.

Attorneys did not mention any health concerns regarding Dear at either the November state hearing or the most recent federal hearing in September.

On Thursday, it will have been 10 years since the shooting that killed Ke’Arre Stewart, Jennifer Markovsky and University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer Garrett Swasey. Nine other people — five of them law enforcement officers — were wounded during the five-hour standoff at the Planned Parenthood facility off Centennial Boulevard near Fillmore Street on the city’s west side.

In a statement Tuesday after hearing of Dear’s death, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said its focus remains on supporting staff, community and others impacted.

“As we reflect on the 10 years since the Colorado Springs tragedy, we honor and remember those whose lives were lost, as well as the strength and resilience of our staff — current and former — our patients, volunteers, and the Colorado Springs community,” the statement read. “As we approach this day of remembrance, we are prioritizing our staff’s well-being while continuing to meet the needs of our patients and community.”

The Gazette reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Tuesday, but the agency said it could not comment on Dear’s death.

The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office confirmed that because Dear is dead, it will now begin the dismissal process for the state case.

“All three victims, and this community, deserved the full measure of justice in
this case but they are now denied that possibility,” 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said in news release. “Their family members and loved ones have endured this horror for far too long. The same is true for the five additional Colorado Springs Police Officers and the four civilians who were injured during this evil attack.”

In response to Tuesday’s news, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said the department continues to remember the victims and highlighted Swasey’s heroism in the department’s statement.

“We know there is no outcome we could provide that would ease the pain of family members who have lost a loved one, or that would comfort any of the victims who survived the shooting,” Vasquez said.

“I am grateful for the reminder, however, of the heroism of our first responders and their willingness to run towards danger when our community is threatened. We will continue to stand with victims and their families as they navigate this news and seek to find closure.”

On the federal level, Dear faced 65 counts of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and three counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death, according to the late-2019 indictment. For his state case, he faced 179 charges, three of which were sentence enhancers. 

Dear was in federal custody at the time of his death Saturday, undergoing medical restoration to competency after years of mental health concerns in both federal and state courts.

During the September federal hearing, a judge granted a joint motion requesting that Dear be civilly committed to a mental health facility. Evaluations were being done to determine Dear’s final location for his civil commitment, which would likely have been a Federal Bureau of Prisons location.

Dear’s case had been stuck in limbo since shortly after his arrest in 2015 due to competency concerns and a delusional disorder diagnosis, according to previous Gazette reporting. At that time, a 4th Judicial District judge said Dear’s understanding of things was “not rational” or “grounded in reality.” 

After other restoration efforts failed, a September 2022 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn allowed Dear to be forcibly medicated. The decision was met with an appeal by Dear’s attorneys, but a June 2023 ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Blackburn’s decision. 

Another motion filed by Dear’s attorneys in August 2024 to allow defense counsel to argue the case a second time in front of the 10th Circuit was denied. Then, in late February, Blackburn ruled the anti-psychotic treatment plan for Dear may be enacted “involuntarily and forcibly, if necessary,” according to court records 

Dear returned to Missouri at the MCFP on April 10 to start medication. However, on Aug. 8, an evaluator found Dear to still be incompetent, and that he is likely unrestorable “for the foreseeable future.” Despite the finding, federal prosecutors did not move to dismiss the case at the September hearing.  

Former 4th Judicial District Attorney and lead prosecutor on the case Dan May said his heart goes out to the victims.

“I heard it on the radio just a few hours ago, and I was shocked. So they had to be shocked too,” May said. “My first thought was that the victims didn’t get closure in this case. They deserve to hear that he was found guilty, or they deserve to hear that he pled guilty.”

From day one, Dear wanted to plead guilty.

“I’m guilty — there’s no trial!” Dear said during one of his initial state hearings in 2015.

May said even if he had been allowed to plead guilty from the start, the outcome would have remained the same.

“Had he pled guilty on day one, he would have been locked up and put behind bars, certainly for the rest of his life,” May said. “The only thing I can tell (the victims) is from day one, he’s been behind bars, and actually, to be in (the health facility) is a worse setting than being in prison. You get a lot more freedom in prison than you do in jail.”

The Gazette was granted an interview from jail with Dear in early 2016, during which he admitted to the crimes and showed no remorse, saying he saved nearly “3,000 babies.”

Dear shared a bit about how he ended up in Colorado Springs in the first during the jail interview. According to Dear, he was drawn to Colorado for mountain solitude and newly-legalized marijuana.

Once in the area, Dear said he thought doctors at a Woodland Park hospital “were killing” his girlfriend, who lived with him at a secluded trailer in Hartsel, about 65 miles west of Colorado springs. She was admitted for a boil, and Dear said he snapped Nov. 27, 2015, after spotting FBI agents trailing him at the hospital.

Armed with at least one AK-47, Dear said he drove to a Colorado Springs hardware store to look up the address of Colorado Springs’ lone Planned Parenthood clinic in a yellow pages directory in an attempt to avoid any phone tracking.

Dear’s decision to surrender after a five-hour standoff at the clinic Nov. 27 came down to the flip of a coin, he told reporters. He said the side that faced up indicated God wanted him to give up.